Denmark HS senior Ethan Ashley caps undefeated XC season with Gatorade award
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BVM) – Denmark High School senior Ethan Ashley put a cherry on top of his incredible cross country season and brought home the Gatorade Player of the Year award for the state of Georgia. The Atlanta native won every regular season race in his final prep year and solidified his commitment to run for Air Force Academy this fall.
“It was awesome to go out and win those races,” Ashley said. “I think for me, preparing for those races wasn’t anything crazy. I just focused on training with the team and trusting our coaches to take us through the right workouts everyday. That trust obviously worked out.”
Ashley began running the summer before seventh grade, but saw it as more of a summer activity as he was more focused on soccer and basketball. It wasn’t until the following year that he joined the track team and quickly realized running would be in his future.
“My first year in high school I had a good season and really enjoyed the team and coaches,” Ashley said. “I had always loved basketball, but that year I didn’t have the best season on the court and it was tough going straight from cross country into basketball into track. I think that’s when I realized I was much better at cross country and track than I was at basketball so I decided to fully focus on running.”
With no shortage of accolades throughout his entire prep career, Ashley’s final season was his best. He finished in first place in every regular season race and brought home Class 6A regional and state titles. Ashley went on to race in the East Bay Cross Country Championships in San Diego and finished No. 23 with a time of 15:52. This mark was the fastest time of any Georgia runner. With a season glittered in gold, Ashley did his best to not let his success distract him from what was truly important.
“I was super happy to achieve the things that I did,” Ashley said. “I think a big thing I realized this year was the pure joy I get out of running and being with the team. I’m not saying I didn’t love winning – the winning was great – but I think through the accolades and awards it made me realize that while that stuff is cool, I’m really there for the love for the sport and the people.”
Ashley’s high school successes have not been limited to the pavement as his academic achievements stand alone. He owned a 4.19 GPA as he entered his senior year and has focused on taking difficult courses to prepare for college. And though his commitment to the Air Force Academy is finalized, the path to get there was anything but easy.
“God blessed me with a lot of good college options,” Ashley said. “I wanted to look at a variety of schools – big, small, public, private. I was fortunate to have the options that I did and it was definitely a fun process. I enjoyed getting to know different coaches and meeting the teams. It added a level of stress to the year just with focusing on cross country, taking hard classes and focusing on the recruitment process. So it was a lot but I enjoyed it.”
Once he was set on Colorado Springs, Ashley was able to truly invest in his future team. He spent time with the current Air Force team and built a strong foundation of friendship, making his excitement for his future that much sweeter.
“[The team] has the attitude that I was looking for in future teammates,” Ashley said. “I feel like by going out there and training with those guys, I can be really successful in that group. It’s definitely the type of team I want to work with. I have the best opportunity to grow at Air Force overall. There is a lot of room for me to develop both as a person and as a runner and I think the Air Force Academy will do a good job at drawing that out.”
For the rest of his prep career, Ashley plans to put in work for his upcoming track season. With such a successful cross country run, expectations are high for the senior and his Great Dane teammates.
“I think we definitely want to carry momentum over from cross country,” Ashley said. “Coming off of a really good season, I don’t want to slack off this coming track season. It’ll be interesting because I won’t be able to hit as many postseason meets as I would like, so we will be pushing pace upfront. But I can say that we will definitely take a few more stabs at winning more titles.”
Aside from athletics and academics, Ashley does what he can to find time to give back to his community through mentoring youth. He assisted in the start-up of a cross country team for a local private school and is passionate about steering youth in the right direction.
“We have a pretty strong youth running community and starting the cross country team at the school my little brothers went was awesome,” Ashley said. “I went to practices and helped coach a lot of them through their first time running. I’ve served in church through kids ministry and summer camps and I also help package and distribute food at our food pantry on weekends. I really enjoy hanging out with kids and helping them grow in all aspects of life. As an older brother, it’s something that is natural to me.”
With a few more months before he heads to Colorado Springs, Ashley is taking life one step at a time and trying to not plan too far ahead. Though he has goals of running professionally, right now he is focused on a successful track season at Denmark and starting off on the right foot as a Falcon.
“I try not to plan things too far in advance,” Ashley said. I have goals – Air Force Academy has a post-collegiate program that would allow me to run professionally for them which would be amazing. But really whatever works out works out. I have a lot of time between now and then and I am just focused on enjoying my last high school track season. Whatever is meant to be I’m good with.”
